"I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color
of their skin but by the content of their character."

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"
James Weldon Johson (1871-1938)
Weldon, who also wrote God's Trombones, a collection of seven sermons
in poetic form, authored this song in 1900 for a group of schoolchildren
to sing in honor of Lincoln's birthday. Today, it is considered by many to
be the national anthem of African-Americans.

Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the
dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the
present has brought us,
Facing the rising sun of our new day
Begun let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our wary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way
That with tears have been watered,
We have come, treading our path
Through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloony past,
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has by Thy might
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places,
Our God, where we met Thee,
Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine
Of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our GOD,
True to our native land.

Material on this site may be reproduced in printed form for non-commercial use (including school, church, and community/civic club use) as long as proper credit, including a link to this site, is given.

Material may not be reproduced for commercial use without written permission.